Protective antibodies also found in premature babiesEven premature babies carry anti-viral antibodies transferred from the mother, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in a paper on maternal antibodies in newborns, published in the journal Nature Medicine. (2019-03-18)

Small babies, big dataThe first week of a newborn's life is a time of rapid biological change as the baby adapts to living outside the womb, suddenly exposed to new bacteria and viruses. (2019-03-12)

New technique reveals big data from tiny babiesAn international research team co-led by the University of British Columbia has pioneered a technique to get huge amounts of data from a tiny amount of newborn blood -- less than a quarter teaspoon -- allowing for the most comprehensive data analysis yet. (2019-03-12)

Breast milk as drug-delivery deviceTreating sick babies with engineered breast milk could someday be a reality, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. (2019-03-06)

VUMC researchers, supercomputing effort reveal antibody secretsUsing sophisticated gene sequencing and computing techniques, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center have achieved a first-of-its-kind glimpse into how the body's immune system gears up to fight off infection. (2019-02-13)

Decoding the human immune systemFor the first time ever, researchers are comprehensively sequencing the human immune system, which is billions of times larger than the human genome. (2019-02-13)

New vaccine offers fresh take on malaria fightEarly research on a new approach to protecting against malaria is offering promising, potentially long-lasting results against the persistent parasite that sickens hundreds of millions people each year. (2019-01-23)

DNA origami: A precise measuring tool for optimal antibody effectivenessUsing DNA origami -- DNA-based design of precise nanostructures -- scientists at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, in collaboration with researchers at University of Oslo, Norway, have been able to demonstrate the most accurate distance between densely packed antigens in order to get the strongest bond to antibodies in the immune system. (2019-01-14)

Nature's sweetsSynthetic chemists, like overzealous nutritionists, usually avoid sugars. Nature, an expert chemist, can shift the sweets from one molecule to another with enviable finesse. (2018-12-17)

#517 Life in Plastic, Not FantasticOur modern lives run on plastic. It's in the computers and phones we use. It's in our clothing, it wraps our food. It surrounds us every day, and when we throw it out, it's devastating for the environment. This week we air a live show we recorded at the 2019 Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C., where Bethany Brookshire sat down with three plastics researchers - Christina Simkanin, Chelsea Rochman, and Jennifer Provencher - and a live audience to discuss plastics in our oceans. Where they are, where they are going, and what they carry with them. Related links:...